CG Roxane to expand rPET operations in Tennessee

CG Roxane, a bottled water company based in Novato, California, has announced it will be expanding its recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) operations at its facility in Benton, Tennessee. The company says the expansion will further its goal of reaching a minimum of 50 percent rPET content nationally.

Work on the 60,000-square-foot facility began last month and is expected to wrap in 2022. The building will house the production line as well as office space, lab, warehouse and maintenance areas that will recycle, clean, wash and cut polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle flakes into rPET.

“At capacity, the Benton facility will mirror the production output of CG Roxane’s San Bernardino rPET facility with the ability, at capacity, to recycle approximately 35 million pounds of plastic bottles,” says CG Roxane San Bernardino Plant Manager Luke Genthe. “Reprocessing all these recycled plastic bottles saves the equivalent of over 285,000 gallons of crude oil in addition to approximately 210 million pounds of CO2 per year.”

The facility will be fitted with an Erema Vacunite line and will also contain all auxiliary equipment necessary to support it. Genthe says that there will be up to 18 employees running the plant, which will handle operations on the east coast.

“It has been a goal since we opened our San Bernardino, California, plant in 2019 to expand rPET production across the East, to reach a minimum of 50 percent rPET content in our products nationally, and eventually 100 percent,” Genthe says.

The company has situated its rPET facilities for optimal proximity to limit carbon emissions through transporting materials and shipping, Genthe adds.

“Our key priority is to reach a minimum of 50 percent rPET content in CG Roxane products nationally by 2022 and 2023,” Genthe says.

The announcement comes after CG Roxane launched its second integrated campaign titled “1 million Strong and Counting.” The new initiative spotlights the company’s 20-year partnership with American Forests. It also highlights the upcoming milestone of 1 million trees being planted together across the U.S. by the end of 2021.

According to a news release by CG Roxane, the campaign features three short films spotlighting CG Roxane’s pledge to advancing environmentally conscious practices. The videos commemorate the one-millionth tree planted by the company, its service to Crystal Geyser bottling plant communities and how promises of sustainable practices become action.